


The Soothsayer

by EaglePursuit



Series: Unfolded [2]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, Grom Tiaras, Grom-posal Note, Lumity, night market
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-13
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:46:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27544807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EaglePursuit/pseuds/EaglePursuit
Summary: Sequel to 'All the Isles a Stage'After agreeing to help Willow with a class project, Luz finds a mysterious magical object in the Night Market that could help her finally discover who Amity wanted to ask to Grom or bring her to the brink of Insanity. Meanwhile, Amity receives support and encouragement from an unexpected source.
Relationships: Amity Blight & Edric Blight & Emira Blight, Amity Blight/Luz Noceda
Series: Unfolded [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1918171
Comments: 112
Kudos: 237





	1. Seedling of Disruption

**Author's Note:**

> Based on: Disney's The Owl House  
> Created by: Dana Terrace
> 
> Special thanks to my beta reader

The Soothsayer

Chapter 1 

Seedling of Disruption

Luz limped out the door of the beast keeping classroom, following the other students in their orange-accented uniforms. Reflecting on Viney’s misleading reassurances, she grumbled to herself, _Grunkbeaks are easy, she said. They’ll be no problem, she said._

She fished a stack of glyph cards out of her pocket, shuffling through them until she found the healing glyphs. She took the first one, bent down, and winced as she activated it against her left calf as the rush of students swirled around her. Despite her growing experience, the healing glyph still felt like hot needles in her skin, but it did the trick. The next one she applied to her forearm, relieving a rather large abrasion. The third she rolled into a tube and slid over her left index finger. She activated it to close up a bite wound.

The problematic grunkbeaks had turned out to resemble an odd mixture of raven and porcupine, the size of a Labrador retriever, with a long, prehensile tail. Their beaks and feathers were razor-sharp. Viney had told her to hand-feed the grunkbeaks raw meat to win their affections, but the one Luz had been paired with apparently didn’t abide by the maxim, ‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you’. It didn’t abide by anything Luz said to it either, and she ended up chasing it around the classroom, which is how she injured her leg on the corner of a desk.

The regular beast keeping track students used their magic to establish bonds with the creatures they tamed. Once a connection was made, they could give the beasts commands. At first blush, it appeared to work the same as Abominations magic, but they were nothing alike. Controlling abominations were all about willpower and dominance over the constructs. That’s why the track was so prestigious; only the steadiest and most determined minds could wield the magic effectively. Beast keeping was about empathy. The better the beast keeper’s connection to their beast, the more loyal it would be, even to the point of death.

Luz was in something of a quandary about how to obtain a beast keeping spell glyph. She’d tried examining other students’ tamed beasts. She’d looked into their eyes as the spell was cast. But no glyph appeared anywhere on or in the creatures. 

Viney offered to try to cast the bonding spell on her, to see if the glyph would appear in her mind. But Luz was apprehensive about the idea. For one, it was against the rules and could get them both kicked out of the track, not that either of them paid much attention to such restrictions. But the idea that it might be possible for someone to manipulate her like a beast was concerning. More research was definitely required before she would even consider that.

At any rate, it was the end of the school day. Luz joined the dense flow of students pulsing down the hallway toward the atrium, the heart of the school, and began to circle around to where her locker was. From the atrium, Luz could hear a shrill wail above the usual din of hallway chatter. It had just the right pitch to penetrate even the most oblivious mind, not that Luz was oblivious, of course. _Usually,_ she thought. She actually considered herself to be quite quick on the uptake. The painful keening wasn’t the sound of the screaming demon school bells that she normally heard, and it piqued her interest. Whatever it was, it was coming from the hallway where Willow’s locker was located.

Luz decided to take a detour and find out what the noise was about. It became louder as she approached until there was no denying it. Willow was the source of the offending sound. Or rather, the thing strapped to Willow’s chest was. She was wearing a baby harness, but the organism restrained within only bore a passing similarity to a baby. It was a plant, with a single flower and wriggling, leafy tendrils that reached out and latched onto things around it. The flower had yellow petals, but instead of a pistil and stamen in the middle, there was a chubby, little face; a face that was both very upset and producing the agonizing cry.

Willow was in the process of extracting her glasses from the plant’s grip while also struggling with a heavy, pink bag full of specialized horticultural supplies hanging awkwardly from her shoulder. She squinted as she noticed Luz approaching her. “Little help here? In the side pocket.”

Luz wasn’t sure how well Willow could see without her glasses. She assumed Willow must have recognized her by the colors of her unique all-the-tracks uniform. “Sure, friend of mine. No prob.” Luz took the heavy bag from her and opened the zippered side pocket. Inside she found a porcelain baby rattle tied with a smart bow of pink ribbon. She held it up and shook it enticingly in front of the plant’s face. 

The plant was instantly distracted by it and, letting go of Willow’s glasses, began grasping for the toy. It even stopped wailing, although the insistent, whiny whimpering that it produced instead was not a significant improvement. “I know you love plants, Willow, but aren’t you a bit young to be thinking about adoption?” Luz joked.

Willow sighed in despair as she settled her glasses back onto her face. “It’s not an adoption, Luz. It’s a class project. Everyone in my advanced plants track class has to take home one of these babyberry sprouts for the weekend. They’re very sensitive and intended to test our best plant-care abilities, but I got an especially lousy one.”

The river of students in the hallway parted then, and a wedge-shaped formation of girls pushed through like the hull of a ship. The other teens backed up against the lockers to get out of their way. Luz only recognized some of them, but the girl at the point of the wedge was Boscha. “Ugh. Is the half-witch crying again?” the three-eyed grudgby captain asked one of the others as they passed by.

The babyberry resumed squalling in earnest at that, and Willow and Luz frowned until Boscha’s clique passed. _That rotten Boscha got the baby all riled up again!_ “I can come over and help you look after your little bundle of joy, if you want? It can be a sleepover!” Luz offered Willow as she tried to distract by tickling the babyberry’s stalk with her fingertips.

The plant witch gave her a grateful half-smile as she tried to distract the babyberry with the rattle again. “Gus is already planning to come over and help, but the more the merrier, I guess. I can introduce you to my parents.”

“It’s a deal,” Luz nodded in agreement. “We’ll turn this cryacinth into a laffodil in no time!”

Luz left Hexside with Willow, and after parting ways, went back to the Owl House to check in with Eda and Lilith to see if the Clawthorne sisters needed any assistance. The two older witches were getting used to a low-magic lifestyle, but sometimes mundane, innocuous tasks vexed them. The day prior, Eda had tangled multiple brushes in her luxurious mane of gray hair, much to King’s amusement, and spent several hours being roundly mocked by the diminutive demon until Luz returned home from school and helped her. Another time, Lilith attempted to use a fire glyph to unclog the sink drain, which earned her the wrath of Hooty. It took the combined effort of the rest of the residents to calm him.

But Luz discovered nothing that required her attention there. Eda and King were watching a soap opera on a crystal ball while Lilith prepared a vegetable soup for dinner. It was relative familial bliss. So, with the Clawthornes raising no objections or concerns, she packed a weekend bag and left for Willow’s home.

Willow lived in an apartment on the second floor of a corner building above her parent’s furniture store in the business district of Bonesborough. By the time Luz arrived, evening was setting in and shops like Parks’ Furniture were closed for the day. Workers and shoppers were all heading home to their families. Meanwhile, shady-looking people were filtering into the area towards the Night Market; the hodge podge of tents and stalls being erected in the streets nearby like a sleazy, nocturnal swap meet. It was generally frowned upon for witchlings to visit the Night Market, as the proprietors and patrons alike were thought to be on the amoral side and might take advantage of children. The market, which changed location nightly to elude the authorities, was always especially busy on the weekends.

Luz found the private entrance to the Parks’ apartment and a buzzer. The technology level in the Boiling Isles mystified Luz. Most buildings, even the Owl House, had electric lights and indoor plumbing. But it also wasn’t uncommon to find a typical electronic device replaced by a demon or magic with no rhyme or reason to it. For instance, telephones relied on a system of magically connected birds, despite microphones and electric speakers being commonplace. Wristwatches even existed in both mechanical and demonic varieties. So Luz was mildly surprised that the buzzer was just that, and not a tiny creature that would run her entrance request up to Willow’s apartment. 

She pushed the button and a moment later a man’s voice responded from a small speaker. “Who’s there?” His tone was affable and not irritated or annoyed at the interruption.

“Hi! It’s Luz, friendly neighborhood human. I’m here to see Willow.”

“Oh, hey,” the man replied. “We’re expecting you. Come on up.” The door unlocked with a light clack, and Luz pushed it open and stepped into an entrance hall with stairs that led to a landing on the second floor. The foyer was not fancy, but it was well-kept. There was a mat to wipe her feet on and a clean tile floor. The stairs didn’t creak and the wooden bannister was solid and polished smooth. Luz climbed the steps to the second floor with confidence.

She knocked on the door at the top of the stairs and a witch man opened it. He had black hair, seasoned with a hint of gray, and light-complected skin. A stocky body bulged under his simple workman’s tunic and his muscular arms ending in thick, calloused hands. He wore a heavy leather apron with little curly-ques of wood still clinging to it. “How ya doing? I’m one of Willow’s parents. My name’s Chul.” He beckoned Luz to come in.

“It means ‘firm’.” Another man’s voice chuckled from somewhere inside. “And he is that!”

Chul turned and lightly admonished the bald, bearded witch man who came up and casually slid an arm around him. “Oh Darvin, stop! There are witchlings present.”

“Obviously I’m Darvin, Willow’s other dad.” the second man said to Luz with a wry smile. His voice was deep and friendly. “She’s in her room. It’s down the hall. You can’t miss it; it’s the one running up our electricity bill!” Darvin’s complexion was darker, and unlike Chul, his clothing was a little fancier, not made to withstand the rigors of manual labor. Luz assumed he worked in the showroom, selling the furniture his partner created.

Luz shook their hands. “I’m Luz. It’s wonderful to meet you both.” She followed the direction Darvin indicated and walked through a nicely appointed, but small living room. It had a couch, coffee table, and two plush armchairs that looked enticingly comfortable. It was no surprise that the home of a carpenter would be furnished with quality specimens of their work. The walls were decorated with a selection of photos of the family of three, contrasting significantly with the Owl House where wanted posters and gruesome trophies were hung haphazardly. Willow’s contribution to the living room’s cozy decor was an eyeball ficus flourishing in a decorative pot by the windows. It struck Luz as a very happy and peaceful home.

She walked down the hall and found Willow’s doorway by the intense light it was emitting, just as Darvin promised. The horrid squall of the babyberry plant emanating from within only served as further confirmation. There was a small bed, well-made like the furniture in the living room, a set of dumbbells on a stand in the corner, a crystal ball on a dresser, but the thing that made the room very Willow was that every horizontal surface had some kind of potted plant on it, ranging from orchidaceous orchids to carnivorous ivies enclosed in terrariums.

“Just so you know, we’re here to offer advice, but we’re not supposed to be involved in her class project. Besides, we’ve already done our share of childrearing!” Chul called after her cheerfully.

Luz entered the bedroom and found Willow and Gus hovering over the upset sproutling with wads of tissue stuffed in their ears. Gus was using an illusion spell to make smiling stars dance in the air around the babyberry’s face, while Willow was simultaneously dripping a potion into the plant’s pot with a medicine dropper and reading a thick book at the same time. Willow had also set up her grow lights in a circle around the babyberry plant in an effort to boost its metabolism. Despite all that, nothing seemed to be working. Luz stood just inside the doorway a moment and took it all in. _Yikes!_ _I’ll be lucky if I survive this weekend with my sanity intact!_ “Hey, guys!”

Her two schoolmates looked up at her with muted expressions that belied the strain they were under. Even the little babyberry turned to look at her, although it didn’t stop its incessant crying. “Oh, thank goodness!” Willow stood up. She let the dropper and the book fall to the floor and rushed over to Luz. Luz opened her arms for a hug, but Willow grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her to the babyberry plant. She picked it up by the pot and set it in Luz’s hands. “Here! Rock it, but not too hard or it will spit up.”

Luz held the plant awkwardly; the hard, clay pot against her stomach and the fragile stalk and leaves against her shoulder. She swayed side to side experimentally, but the plant did not stop crying. “Can I sing to it?”

“Of course! Try anything!’ Willow replied absentmindedly. She was back to flipping through the pages of the heavy book. Luz noticed the cover; it was a care manual for sproutling babyberries and well over an inch thick.

A memory from deep in Luz’s childhood surfaced and sparked an idea. She took a deep breath and spontaneously began singing the first verse to ‘Doña Semana’, a Dominican lullaby. She patted gently on the bottom of the babyberry’s pot to the beat. The plant’s squalling calmed to a soft whine as it listened to her. Luz looked down at its large baby eyes, staring at her with rapt attention, and felt a sudden bout of homesickness pull on her heart; her voice cracked over the words and warm tears welled in her eyes. _I haven’t seen Mami in almost two months!_

Gus looked at her worriedly. He could see the grief in her expression. “Luz, you don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“It’s okay, it’s just...this song reminds me of my mom. She sang it to me when I was a little kid.” She smiled faintly, then closed her eyes and began the second verse, voice thick with emotion. She felt the babyberry’s face nuzzle up against her neck, its soft, yellow petals tickling lightly. _It’s all worth it if this little cutie falls asleep._

That’s when it bit her; a nip with its sharp, little teeth. Luz screamed and tried to pull the infantile plant away from the side of her neck without damaging it. _¡Dios mío! ¡Eres un pequeño diablo!_ It started crying again as Gus took it from her and set it back on the desk under the grow lights.

“Well, it almost worked.” Luz sighed as she rubbed her neck near the clavicle.

Gus pulled his collar down to show his own little red mark. “Sorry, I should have warned you about the biting.”

“Okay, here we go.” Willow looked up from the care manual and stretched her shoulders. “I think we need something called Soothesoil. The book says it treats intractable agitation in this breed.”

“And let me guess; you don’t have any?” Gus asked wearily.

Willow shook her head. 

He cringed. “So where do we get some at this hour? All the shops are closed.”

“Someone’s going to have to go down to the Night Market, I guess,” Willow replied with a sigh.

“Lucky someone,” Luz grumbled. “Draw straws?”

Willow found some skewers she used sometimes in conjunction with twine to support plants with weak stems and broke one of them so it was obviously shorter than the others. She arranged them in her hand with the ends even so that it wasn’t apparent which was which and offered first pick to Gus. 

He picked a long one with a look of unabashed disappointment. 

Luz picked next and drew the short stick; repressing a sigh of relief. “It looks like I’m going. Don’t worry guys, I’ll be back as quick as I can!”

Coming Next Week:

Chapter 2: Illusions of Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cover Art by: TurquoiseGirl35


	2. Illusions of Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emira and Edric help Amity build up her confidence.

Chapter 2

Illusions of Love

Alador and Odalia Blight still had not returned from the emergency summons to the Emperor’s Castle. It was not overly unusual for either of them to have to attend to Emperor Belos’s whims at a moment’s notice — Alador was in a major leadership position in the Abominations Coven, after all; while Odalia possessed a sinecure in the administrative bureaucracy that occasionally required her to personally present reports to Belos himself — but they had been gone for the better part of a month. Several days before, shortly after Amity had starred as Prince Cadogan in Forbearance Betrayed, they had sent word to their children that they would continue to remain at the castle for the foreseeable future. They also stipulated that Amity and her siblings should stay at home except to go to school or to buy food until further notice unless it was a matter of utmost importance.

Whatever had transpired when Luz rescued Eda from the Conformatorium had effects that rippled through the court. Alador and Odalia were strangely mum on the subject in their brief messages home, which was unusual because Odalia loved to brag about her husband’s influential work. Luz, as she laid delirious in a cave on the shore of Lake Lacuna, had mentioned to Amity that she made a trade with the Emperor. Although she had hesitated to say what that was exactly. 

In any case, due to her parents’ positions in the government, that interaction between Luz and Emperor Belos resulted in misery for Amity. She was stuck inside, unable to visit the library or the Book Nook in the market, lest she incur their disapproval. To make matters worse, her older twin siblings, Emira and Edric, delighted in flouting the ban, bragging to her about their outings about town. They especially enjoyed bringing up any time they happened to encounter Luz, describing in exaggerated detail their conversations with the human, and teasing Amity about it infuriatingly. It was pure torment for the witchling, deep in the throes of her first major crush.

And so, she sat on her bed, back to the headboard and chin on knees, and stared across the room at the Good Witch Azura poster on her wall over her desk, flanked by Emperor’s Coven posters made mandatory by her mother. She had kept it for years, and it had the rips, scorch marks, and stains to prove it. It had been torn down by her mother countless times, vandalized by her trickster siblings in several incidents, removed for its own safety at least once, and always restored to its place on her wall. 

Odalia increasingly admonished Amity that it was high time for her to leave behind the childish books and embrace interests more becoming of a member of one of the most powerful families in the Boiling Isles, which of course meant socializing with the offspring of her parents’ political allies.

Her mother had aspirations, after all. She had been maneuvering and manipulating her family’s way to the heights of aristocratic power since she married into what was once an obscure, provincial barony. It was she who arranged for Amity to receive mentoring from the head of the Emperor’s Coven, in hopes that Amity would become Lilith Clawthorne’s eventual successor. A Blight in that position would be a great boon to the family’s fortunes. It had all been for naught though, because not only did Amity fall out with Lilith after the Covention incident, but Lilith herself had recently fallen out with the Emperor. No doubt Odalia was already working on some new scheme to launch her youngest child into some form of power.

And so Amity pouted, resentful that she couldn’t leave and go to the library, the market, or if she could work up the courage, even seek out Luz and join her in whatever daring —  _ And probably stupid!  _ — adventure she was undoubtedly having at that very moment without her.  _ She’s probably leaping directly into the mouth of a giant demon or something like a hero…a sweet, courageous, dumbass hero.  _ She sighed and closed her eyes. She couldn’t think about anything without circling back to the human girl. And thinking about her made Amity miserable because deep inside, she was too scared to tell Luz how she really felt.

She wanted to be around Luz all the time because she liked her. But being so close made her sick with longing. And she couldn’t risk acting on her crush or she might lose Luz. Her mind went over it again and again, looking for some kind of solution, a sure thing. But there was only fear, longing, and risk. She was stuck in a conundrum she couldn’t solve. 

_ There’s no way she likes me back! She says it all the time; we’re just friends. And if I tell her I have a crush on her, she will freak out and we won’t even be friends anymore. _ She was reminded of the school play. By happenstance —  _ Luz foolishly stumbling into the middle of my plans, as usual. _ — they had been the romantic leads, Sir Muerig and Prince Cadogan. Amity had kissed Luz in the final scene. It had not been some awkward, perfunctory stage kiss; she had lost control of herself in that moment and accidentally, and wordlessly, revealed how she felt to Luz. It had been amazing. It had been powerful. Her heart had soared. The look on Luz’s face afterward was completely cryptic to her and brought the play to a screeching halt. 

Neither girl had made an effort to discuss it since the immediate aftermath of the play. It was almost as if it hadn’t happened at all. Maybe her secret was still safe. Or maybe Luz was just trying to avoid telling her the attraction was not reciprocated so that she wouldn’t have to hurt her. Either way, Amity vowed not to let it happen again. _As if there will be another opportunity for something so...wonderful ever again._ _Oh, Titan. This sucks._

There was a gentle knock at her door. Amity considered whether it might be her parents, whisked home by the sudden end of whatever business they were attending to, but it sounded like neither. Her father’s knock was stentorian and authoritative. Her mother’s was crisp and sharp. She deduced it was Emira and mustered the fortitude to endure whatever clownish idiocy her siblings were about to inflict upon her. “What is it?” Amity half expected the twins to barge in, already initiating whatever practical joke they had conceived to play or prating their honeyed jibes at her. 

Instead Emira responded through the door, “Can I talk to you?”

Amity sighed. She didn’t really want to talk to Emira, but she waved her finger in a small circle anyway and the door opened.

“Hi.” Emira came into the room with her trademark coy smile and sat on the side of Amity’s small bed.

“Where’s Ed?”

Emira smoothed out the bedspread with her hand as she spoke. “He’s in the parlor. We were discussing something and we thought it might be best if I talked to you alone.”

“So, what do you want to talk about?” The unexpected candor put Amity slightly at ease, and intrigued her.

Emira turned and positioned herself next to Amity with her back to the headboard and her long legs stretched out.  _ This is weird,  _ Amity thought. It seemed uncharacteristically sisterly.

The older Blight folded her hands in her lap. “We’ve been giving you a hard time lately, you know, about Luz and your crush on her.”

“Um yeah, you jerks!” Amity’s guard was instantly back up. The twins had found part of the note she had planned to use to ask Luz to Grom, magically discovered who it was intended for, and attempted to extort her into doing their chores. In the end, Amity had called their bluff, but she was still aggrieved about it and the persistent teasing that followed.

Emira shook her head, as if in regret. “I admit, it probably wasn’t our best idea. We were only trying to help; to push you to do what you need to do.”

“To make a fool of myself?” Amity asked indignantly.

“No, to tell Luz how you feel.” Her older sister smiled faintly. “The inevitable foolishness would just be a bonus for us.”

Amity glowered at Emira. It was a good thing it wasn’t possible to cast spells with facial expressions or she would’ve committed fratricide.

“Anyway, I just wanted to say that Ed and I are sorry, and we want to help.”

Amity shook her head flatly. “Absolutely not.”  _ That’s the last thing I need. They probably want to make a giant ‘Luz, will you go out with me?’ illusion in the sky over town or something. _

Emira continued. “Look, you’re not the only one to ever have a crush. Almost everybody goes through it. Usually more than once. We know how it is. It feels hopeless, right? It’s not. Well, maybe it is for you, but we can help.” She smiled again, in earnestness. “You abomination track kids think you’re all high and mighty with your willpower and mental domination. Well, we illusions students have some tricks too; that can help you build up your courage. And Ed and I will show them to you, if you want.

She shrugged with seeming indifference. “The choice is yours, of course. You can let us help you, or you can wallow in misery for who knows how long. Weeks? Months? And I saw how little you ate at dinner. Ed’s cooking isn’t that bad. This is really getting to you. You can’t just force your feelings to go away, you know. And you can’t ignore them.”

Amity groaned. It was true, she hadn’t had much of an appetite since the play. Emira had a point and she hated it. “Fine. But if this is a trick, I’m going to put an abomination in your bed, and I’ve been working on spiders!”

Emira stood up and beckoned her little sister to follow. “Good choice, Mittens. Ed’s waiting in the parlor.”

Amity quietly followed Emira through the corridor and down the stairs, past grandiose portraits of their ancestors, to the parlor. The decor there was indulgent, expensive, and designed to overawe guests. There were matching settees upholstered with eye-bat leather, enchanted armchairs that could change temperature or even massage their occupants, and a coffee table that could walk into the kitchen and refresh their beverages. The Blights never knew when they might have to entertain a minister or coerce a bureaucratic factotum into fast-tracking approval for one or another of Odalia’s ploys to accrue more prestige. But that evening it had all been pushed to the side to open up the center of the floor, where Edric stood.

Emira turned and stood next to her twin. “So, here’s the thing. We get it. It’s scary to ask someone out, especially the first time. It feels like you’re going to break all apart if they turn you down. You’re putting everything on the line.”

“There’s only one thing that can make it easier,” Edric jumped in with his roguish half grin. “Practice.”

Emira bent forward. “And that’s where we come in.”

Amity was already starting to have misgivings. “You...want me...to practice...on you two?”

“What!?” Edric’s eyes shot open. “No, no no. That’s gross. Don’t ever do that.”

“On illusions.” Emira waved her hand in a circle and the room suddenly flashed light blue and changed. It looked like a hallway at Hexside, although Amity couldn’t identify which one specifically. The walls were lined with toothy, red lockers, and there were colorful flyers posted. However, if she tried to look at one of them directly, its appearance would flicker and the words were unreadable jumbles of letters. It was like a dream suddenly became real.

“This is what all illusions track students do. You can practice asking someone out, work on your flirtatious banter, even make out with someone,” Edric explained. “Because, you know, you want to be good at it, right?”

_ Titan’s black blood!  _ Amity looked at her brother aghast. Neither sister responded, leaving the pause hanging awkwardly.

“What?” He turned to Emira. “You’ve made out with an illusion before, right Em?”

Emira shook her head subtly, sharing Amity’s expression.

He sighed. “It’s just me? Okay, fine. It’s just me then. I guess I’m the weirdo. Anyway...” He made a circle of light blue in the air and an illusion of Luz in her multi-track uniform materialized next to him. It waved at Amity. “Here’s your Il-Luz-ion.”

“Let’s see some flirts!” Emira called as she and her twin brother stepped through the wall of lockers and disappeared.

Amity looked at the illusion of Luz, and it stared back at her blankly. She certainly wasn’t going to mention it to her siblings, but she had practiced just like this with an abomination standing in for Luz. However in contrast, the illusion appeared to be a far superior option. “Okay, I can do this. She’s not actually here.”

“You can’t approach this kind of thing with that mentality, or it won’t help you. You have to think like it’s the real Luz. You have to let it get inside your head.” Edric’s voice encouraged her through the wall.

Amity closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  _ Okay, this is it. It’s really happening. I’m doing this. _ She opened her eyes and smiled timidly at Luz, then glanced at her shoes. “Hi, Luz. So, uh. You...uh, come here...often?”

“You’re in school, Mittens,” Emira razzed her suddenly. “Of course she goes there often. You see her there, like, everyday. Don’t you have a better line than that?”

Amity stomped her foot in frustration.  _ Ugh. I can already tell this isn’t going to go well. _ “I have no idea what I should be saying! What do you do!?” she asked snidely.

“Say, ‘There must be something wrong with my eyes. I can’t take them off of you.’” Emira suggested.

“What!?” Amity shook her head. “I can’t say that! It’s so bad. I’ll feel ridiculous!”

“Asking someone out feels ridiculous,” Edric pointed out. “You have to embrace it or else you just come off as awkward.”

“I am awkward!”

Emira’s voice came through the wall forcefully. “Just try it! You don’t have to use that line on the real Luz. Just get used to how it feels to say silly things like that. Try to make her laugh. And don’t forget to make eye contact.”

“Okay, fine!” Amity grumbled at the lockers where their voices were coming from. She turned to the illusion, who was standing there, blinking with a neutral expression. “ Hey, Luz. There must be something wrong with my eyes,” she spat out the words through clenched teeth and cringed before the next sentence. “I can’t take them off of you.” Even though the Luz she was facing wasn’t real, the heat she felt in her face definitely was. She could imagine her siblings stifling their laughter just outside the illusory walls of the hallway.

The Luz illusion giggled and smiled at her suggestively. “Mmm gosh, thanks, Amity. I can’t keep my eyes off you either!” It stepped in close to her and brushed the back of its fingers against her cheek, then ran them over the top of her pointy ear and through her green hair.

Amity went rigid as the illusion’s fingers reached the back of her neck and pulled her closer, its eyes half-lidded. She panicked and scrambled backwards, falling on her posterior.

The illusion of the Hexside hallway collapsed as Emira shouted, “What in the Titan’s butt is wrong with you, Ed!?”

“What?” Edric retorted defensively. “I like a stronger reaction. It gives me more confidence.”

Emira threw up her arms. “Well, that was totally unrealistic! You saw how she freaked out.”

Amity sat on the floor of the parlor looking at the expensive hardwood parquet pattern. “I don’t think this is going to work, guys. It’s too weird.”

Emira walked over and offered her a hand. “Don’t worry. I’ll do Luz from now on. You’ll get the hang of it eventually. She smiled. “And if not, we’ll all have something to laugh about later.”

Coming next week:

Chapter 3: The Impulse Purchase


	3. The Impulse Purchase

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz discovers a magical item at the Night Market while looking for Soothesoil to help with Willow's class project

Chapter 3

The Impulse Purchase

Luz pulled her cloak around herself before stepping into the Night Market, as much to protect against the cool night air as the atmosphere of iniquity that pervaded the area. A crude sign overhead marked its liminal boundary. In the daytime, this had been an ordinary street in Bonesborough’s business district. Now it was lit by flickering, magical flames enclosed in skulls and crowded with various classes of ne'er-do-wells and malcontents. She had seen the Night Market before, but only from above with the benefit of a large house on equally large legs to separate her from it. Up close, it was something else entirely.

The walkways were lined with stalls, stands, kiosks, and tents of every imaginable configuration. But unlike a regular market, the vendors weren’t eagerly hawking their wares. They watched the throng of patrons with disinterest from the shadows of their shops, that is, until Luz walked by. Each one leaned forward and eyed her with intense gazes like hawks sizing up a tender, young mouse that had stumbled into their midst.

The human witch self-consciously pulled at her hood of her cloak and kept her hand on her yellow satchel. The leering attention of the shopkeepers made her very uncomfortable, both intimidated and on edge. She pushed her way through the press of people in the street, alert for hands that might snatch at her or her pockets. She palmed a fire glyph card in her other hand, ready to slap it down on anyone that dared.

She walked past the Man-Sized Cages stall, keeping her distance because there were several display models that were occupied by screaming patrons. A sign out front read ‘Live Demonstrations Every Night — Try It Before You Buy It!’.

She smelled the repugnant stench of the next stand before she saw it. It sported three scorpion tails on its roof above the name, Poison Hut. A hulking, blue-skinned ruffian wearing a bright red t-shirt with the store’s logo was packing several vials into an insulated case in front of the store. A slogan on his shirt promised results in thirty minutes or less. He closed the case and strapped it to a staff, then flew off into the dark sky with his delivery. Luz kept moving through the crowd.

The next stall surprised her; its sign said it was Mud n’ Sundry, although it only bore a passing similarity to the original that had been crushed by the magically bipedal Owl House months before. She lifted the front flap and peered into the shadows inside to see if Tibbles Grimhammer was back at his old tricks. Eda would be interested to know if he was. But a female witch with green cat eyes appeared and leaned over the counter, silently looking back at her attentively. “Sorry. My mistake!” Luz apologized hastily. “I thought you were someone else.”

The cat-eyed witch lifted her chin and shot back in a thick accent, “Under new management, jes?”

“Jes! I mean, yes! Sorry to bother you,” Luz said as she dropped the flap and hurried away.

On the sidewalk across the street was a green tent. The sign on the front read, ‘Bloodbath and Beyond’. Luz shrugged.  _ Soothesoil isn’t a bloodbath, but it is technically beyond that, I guess. It’s worth a shot. _ She peeked into the tent and was shocked to discover that it was several times larger on the inside than its outward appearance belied. The interior was stuffed with close-spaced racks where an eclectic variety of products were haphazardly stacked. “Whoa!”

A thin, elderly witch sat inside at a table with a lamp. The lamp had a globular shade of frosted glass with a forest scene of red-leaved trees painted on its surface. She looked up at Luz from a deck of cards that she was slowly laying onto the table in columns. “I get that a lot. The tent’s enchanted.”

Luz took in the woman’s appearance. She was pale and wrinkly with frail, bony arms and hands. Blue veins were visible under her papery skin. She could have been anywhere from eighty to a thousand years old. She wore a fluffy, pale pink cardigan sweater and half-moon shaped reading glasses. But unusually for a woman of her advanced age, her pointy ears were gauged and pierced multiple times each with shiny, pointed studs and her face sported several additional piercings. Her hair was in a jet-black mohawk almost a foot high. _Wow. I bet she gets her piercings caught in her sweater like crazy._ Luz blinked and refocused. “Do you have any...Soothesoil?”

The elderly woman’s mohawk flicked open and shut, parting like butterfly wings as she considered the question, briefly displaying a showy pattern in iridescent blue on the inside. She pointed a bony finger towards the back of the tent. “Check the S rack, dear.”

‘Thank you, ma’am.” Luz headed to the rear of the tent, wending her way through the disorganized displays that were piled high with miscellania. She proceeded with care to avoid disturbing any of the precarious stacks of merchandise. She passed Pain-brushes that were advertised to only produce meaningful art and edible hats called Breadoras. There were canopic tureens intended specifically for spleens and ketomancer chalices that magically transfigured all carbohydrates to protein.

After several false turns and a near tragedy involving a collection of cursed mirrors, she found herself standing near the back of the enchanted store before a rack with a handwritten S on its placard. Here at last she was able to detect some kind of order within the chaos. The topmost products on the pile were hideously clawed implements on short sticks called Scabbreakers while the next strata down contained Sergeant Gargle’s Mouthwash For Cannibals.  _ Hmmm. Alphabetical order?  _

She tested the theory by skipping close to the bottom. There she found a singular box about a foot square in all dimensions with the picture of a man’s head on the front. The head’s mouth was lolling open and it’s eyes were alight with yellow fire. It was labelled ‘The Soothsayer’.  _ Whoops! I’ve gone one too far. _

She located Soothesoil on the next layer up in the heap. It was packaged in two pound bags that were covered in esoteric information about nitrogen levels, perlite content, and usage recommendations that only the most eldritch gardener — and Willow — would ever bother to examine. Luz only read the first two sentences under the product name in an effort to confirm that this was what she was sent to find, ‘ _ Calms irritability due to aspergillus, earwigs, ergot, and pythium. Please consult a professional plant coven horticulturalist if symptoms persist,’  _ She nodded.  _ This looks like what I came for. _

Luz carefully extracted a bag of Soothesoil from the S stack so as not to bring the whole thing down on herself. She was about to leave when a thought compelled her to turn back to that sole box beneath the Soothesoil.  _ What did that Soothsayer thing say again?  _ She leaned down and carefully examined it. The box was spangled in starbursts containing selling points. Knows All! — Hours Of Entertainment! — Unpleasant Truths! — A Hit At Parties!  _ Knows all? Truths? Parties? This is exactly what I need to solve the riddle of what’s bugging Amity! _

Luz had noticed herself thinking more and more about Amity, suspecting that she just had more attention to spend on her friends since Eda was growing accustomed to her new lifestyle and required less of her assistance. It had started shortly after the two of them had performed Forbearance Betrayed together although she couldn’t quite pin down exactly why. However it came to be, she had observed that Amity was acting strangely. She was moody — more so than usual — and stammered, and sometimes seemed embarrassed when Luz hugged her. She definitely wasn’t acting like the self-possessed, strong-willed girl Luz had originally become friends with.  _ Amity’s probably crushing hard on the person she really wanted to go to Grom with,  _ she had deduced with a vague hint of apprehension that confused her.  _ It must be so difficult for her, wanting to be with whoever it is, but too afraid to tell them. _ So, despite the fact that she had promised Amity otherwise, Luz was again thinking about prying into her friend’s deeply held secret.

She pulled the cardboard box out from the pile, causing the whole S rack to slump alarmingly to one side. That’s when she noticed a dire warning in fine print, ‘Caution: Mishandling the Soothsayer may result in unexpected revelations, depression, possession, or death.’  _ I’m sure it’s probably not that big of a deal or they would’ve used a bigger font,  _ Luz reassured herself. She took the two items and made her way back to the lady playing cards at the front table to check out. 

She pushed a handful of snails across the tabletop as the elderly woman placed the products in a reusable bag with unsettling fangs, five eyes, and the store’s name emblazoned on it. “You have fun now with your gardening and divination, dear,” she bade as the young witch left the tent. 

_ What a nice old lady. _ Luz waved goodbye.

The Night Market was less busy as she headed back to Willow’s apartment. The initial rush of people making illicit purchases had tapered off. One didn’t linger or window shop with the ever-present threat of an Emperor’s Coven crackdown on the contraband trade looming over them. And so Luz was able to hurry, not only for the sake of her friends waiting for her, but because she wanted to try the Soothsayer as soon as it was feasible to do so.

She returned to the Park’s building and Darvin buzzed her in promptly. She ran up the stairs two at a time to the second floor, where he opened the door to the apartment without waiting for her to knock. Even Willow’s parents seemed to have grown discontented with the infantile plant’s high-pitched cries and were trying to help, despite their prior insistence that they wouldn’t get involved in the class project. Chul was ineffectually rocking the babyberry on one of the armchairs in the living room with his leather apron thrown over his shoulder to protect him from bites. 

“I’m back, everyone!” Luz reached into her shopping bag and extracted the sack of Soothesoil. “Ta-da!”

Willow leaped for the sack and ran with it to her bedroom with the entire ensemble following along behind. In Luz’s absence she had already prepared a ceramic pot in the center of the grow lights. She put on her gardening gloves and ripped open the bag, pouring the Soothesoil into the pot. Using her hands, she shaped the dirt to allow a hollow depression in the center.

Chul held the babyberry’s pot while Willow carefully used a gardening spade to loosen its roots. The plant was wailing in distress and tried to pull at her hands with its tendrils. “Shhh, little one, it’s going to be okay,” she spoke to it in soft tones. She lifted it from its old pot, supporting its one large bloom with one hand and its clump of roots with the other as she transferred it to the new pot with the Soothesoil. She eased its roots into the depression she had made previously and groomed the magical dirt over them.

Once in place, she watered it with a small, metal watering can that she kept by her bed, then stood back. She held up a finger and moved it in a circle, tracing a glowing green path through the air with her fingertip. The Soothesoil flashed the same shade of green for a second, and Luz thought she could hear the plant's roots expanding into it.

The babyberry stopped screaming and let out a soft coo of relief. It’s stalk became less rigid while its tendrils unclenched. Willow carefully repositioned the grow lights as she whispered to it, “Yeah, that’s it, sweetie. Feels nice, huh? Time for beddy bye.” It shut its eyes and basked in the full-spectrum light.

Willow put a finger to her lips and directed everyone to leave the bedroom, quietly closing the door as she followed.

They convened in the living room, speaking in low voices so as not to disturb the fussy plant. “Chul and I are going to hit the hay,” Darvin told them. “We know from experience that parents of fussy children should get lots of rest. I recommend you three do the same.”

_ Willow’s childhood anecdotes!?  _ Luz’s eyes grew large. “Aw, was Willow a cranky baby, too?”

“Oh, no.” Willow snorted good-naturedly. “I was a good baby, right Daddy-Chul?”

Chul chuckled and ruffed up his daughter’s hair with the palm of his large, calloused hand. “Um, mostly. But you did have your moments. Any-who. Off to bed. Goodnight, kids.” He followed Darvin down the hall to their room at the end.

Coming next week:

Chapter 4: Mishandled Truths


	4. Mishandled Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz wants to use the Soothsayer to pry into Amity's Grom note secret, to Willow's great disapproval

Chapter 4

Mishandled Truths

With the adults gone to bed, Willow and Gus settled into the living room’s plush armchairs. After having spent the previous several hours minding the fussy babyberry, they were perfectly content to relax quietly in the company of friends. Luz made herself comfortable on the couch, facing a pair of windows that looked out over the street. From there she could see the faint reddish glow of the Night Market’s lights a few blocks over. It reminded her of the other item she had bought. She reached over the back of the couch to pick up the shopping bag where she had left it earlier, and pulled out the box. “Hey, guys. Wanna see what else I got at the Night Market?”

Willow and Gus leaned forward to look. “It says, ‘A Hit At Parties’,” Gus pointed out with growing interest. “This is like a party!” 

The three of them quietly sitting in Willow’s living room was hardly comparable to a party in Luz’s mind.  _ But whatever.  _ That was beside the point to her.

“What does it do?” Willow raised an eyebrow. “I don’t want to try it if it will wake up my parents or the babyberry plant.”

Luz held it up so her friend could see the picture on the front. “You ask it questions and it tells you answers. It’s like the magic eight-balls we had back home, only it might actually work. Because, you know, this place has real magic stuff and not cheap novelty junk.” She grinned. “I’m gonna to ask it about Amity.”

“I have concerns,” Willow said, frowning, and shared a glance with Gus.

Gus raised his eyebrows and shrugged, which prompted Willow to shake her head disapprovingly. He turned back to his human friend. “I think it’s a great idea, Luz. Since we never got to try my illusion spell on that note.”

“Sounds like we have a consensus then.” Luz ran her fingernail under the edge of the lid to break the tape sealing it shut.

Willow pressed the base of her palm into her forehead and grimaced. “We do not.”

“Whatever, a majority.” Luz rolled her eyes. “What’s the worst that could happen?” She flipped the top of the box open and looked inside to find a person’s face looking back at her. It was wrinkly and withered, its skin like tanned leather. The face was attached to an actual head, which was not at all comforting to Luz; the ragged stump of its neck bore the tell-tale marks of having been severed with some crude instrument. A clump of brittle and faded red hair laid unevenly on its pate. Its beady, dark eyes gazed up at her. “Blergh!” Luz shuddered. “And who is this handsome fellow?”

In truth, the question was intended to be rhetorical. But the head’s lips parted to reveal a ghastly smile of yellowed, crooked teeth, rendered all the more disturbing by its heavily receded gums. “What? Me? I’m Larry!” it croaked, then coughed. “Titan’s balls, it’s been a while since I talked to someone.”

Willow and Gus leaped to their feet in surprise and came around the back of the couch to look over Luz’s shoulders. “Mind your language!” Willow chided Larry.

“Ah! Beggin’ your pardon, miss. I forgot me place.” Larry winked at her. His voice was still quite coarse, as if his long lost throat was full of gravel.

Luz gently picked him up by his pointy witch ears. “Whoa, a talking head! This is so cool!”

“There’s nothing cool about that. My head talks all the time!” Gus protested. “It’s talking right now. And it’s still attached to my body.”

The human girl ignored him and addressed the head. “How’d you end up like this, Larry?”

His eyes suddenly lit with yellow fire and crackled with magical energy as he levitated into the air of his own accord. The Soothsayer opened his mouth as if to intone some dread prophecy.

Luz blinked in alarm before interrupting him. “Oh, sorry. I was just making conversation. That wasn’t supposed to be a test of your powers or anything.”

“Ah! Why didn’t ya say so?” Larry abruptly stopped and fell into her lap. “I got me quite a story, yeah? I used to be a wild witch, back when I were a...well...a whole person. I lived in the deep woods near the Knee to keep away from the Emperor’s Coven. Bad folks, them.”

Luz nodded in agreement. “I hear ya!”

“Anyway, beings a wild witch, I could do any magic I wanted, but I had a bit of a reputation for me fortune-telling. Folk would come from all over the Boiling Isles an’ seek me out to hear their fortunes. Was I good at it? Nah!” —He winked at them as if it were a joke— “The secret is to keep them just cryptic enough that they could apply to anything. Just a run-o-the-mill scally-wag, I was. The money wasn’t half bad neither.

“So, one day this witch came right up to me door, despite all kinds of protective spells I had to keep me place hidden. I could tell right away she was a woman of great power. She wanted a consultation with the famous fortune-teller ‘bout somethin’ that was botherin’ her. Right then an’ there, I knew I were in trouble. You see, she was dealing with some kind of crazy curse, but I didn’t know nothin’ ‘at could help her. So I gave her as nice and cheery a fortune as I could think of, an’ wished her luck.”

Willow interjected, “That witch did this to you?”

“Hey! Don’t get ahead of me…” He paused with a wide smile on his grotesque and badly chapped lips, apparently in anticipation of a hearty laugh from the teens. But they only stared at him solemnly. “Eh. Tough crowd. Yeah, she came back, an’ angry too. Seems she tried to find some cure for that curse based on what I had said to her, an’ it blew up in her face; caused her all kinds of trouble. Needless to say, she blamed me. Me! Just trying to lay low, I was. Maybe make a few snails here an’ there. I didn’t do anything to deserve this.

Gus looked at him incredulously. “Really?”

“Well, okay. Maybe I kinda cast the first spell. I knew she was powerful and jus’ itchin’ to end me. I was just tryin’ to get the drop on her; the element of surprise, ya see? But she was havin’ none of it. She laid into me with her magic staff, an’ I didn’t stand a chance. She coulda killed me then an’ there, but instead she says to me, ‘Larry, you screwed over the wrong witch. I’m gonna make sure you never give anyone a bad fortune ever again.’ So she gives me the full-body amputation. Rude, right? A real pain in the neck. 

He paused again, smiling his disturbing smile as before. “Come on, you guys! Laugh! These are the good jokes. Anyway, I coulda put me-self back together after she left, but then she dissolved me body. Poof, gone! I thought I was gonna be a ghost for sure, but she did some kind of crazy necromancy spell to trap my spirit inside me head.

Luz piped up, “Whoa! Necromancy is a real thing!?”  _ Maybe I can get necromancy glyphs! Talk about having a dark side! _

Larry nodded. Or rather, he made the stump of his neck twitch unsettlingly. “Yeah! It was news to me too, kid. She trapped me spirit like this, then she put this geas on me that I can only tell the truth. Kept me around in this weird dump of a house like a trophy until she got bored of me talkin’ an’ gave me to some other guy, she did. That guy pawned me for fifty snails. Long story short, I ended up in a box in that store where you found me.”

Luz had been enraptured by his tale, eyes glittering. The former witch clearly had a way with words, a folksy affability that drew her in. At last she placed him on the coffee table and said, “Wow, that was nuts, Larry! We should probably try to find some way to break the curse and free you from your eternal servitude or whatever...but first I want to ask you some questions about my friend, Amity.”

“Ugh, this is a bad idea.” Willow sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose as if exhausted by Luz’s fixation with that particular mystery.

Larry flashed his creepy grin at Luz. “Hey, I don’t mind. It’s not like I got some place better to be, right? Ask away, kid!”

Luz bit her lip.  _ I promised Amity I wouldn’t go digging into her Grom-posal note anymore. But she has been acting weird lately. Maybe I’ll try a different approach.  _ “Larry, what’s bothering Amity Blight?”

The bodiless fortune-teller levitated into the air once more, eyes lit with fire and crackling with the same magical energy as before. He opened his mouth wide, chanting; not in his usual, raspy voice, but a sonorous bass that reverberated powerfully in their ears. “Titan’s dread ichor, seething, churning. The girl’s sick with heartfelt yearning.” With that, the fire in his eyes flickered out and he fell to the coffee table with an ‘oof’. “Titan’s arsehole, I hate that part.” His voice was back to its normal gravelly tone.

Luz mulled it over.  _ Yeah, that makes sense. Mittens is smitten. She’s got the hots for whoever she wanted to go to Grom with, right? I just need to find out who that is.  _ Now that the answer was finally within her reach, it filled her with less excitement than she anticipated. Perhaps there was even a pinch of dread. She couldn’t quite pin down why though, and didn’t have the patience to consider it. “Okay. My next question is, who is Amity yearning—”

“Luz, stop!” Willow jumped to her feet, holding a hand out to intercede. She came around the couch and stood across the coffee table from Luz “If Amity wanted you to know...If she wanted your help, she would ask you! No good can come of this.” Her expression was adamant.

The human put her hands on her hips. “But she won’t ask for help! She’s all ‘I’m a tough witch, don’t mess with me’ on the outside. But on the inside she’s scared and vulnerable and as sweet as can be! I’m going to find out who she likes and I’m going to win them over for her.”

“I can’t let you do this, Luz!” Willow scooped Larry up off the coffee table and clutched him defensively. “If you find out before she’s ready to say it, she will never trust you again!”

“Willow, what is wrong with you!? Why do you even care!?” Luz asked in exasperation.  _ I can’t believe her!  _ She grabbed the Soothsayer by his limp, red hair and pulled. Willow held on to his ears and yanked back harder. They tussled over the coffee table, twisting this way and that.

Larry clenched his teeth as they pulled on him from both directions. “Ow ow ow! Hands off the merchandise, girls!”

Gus came around and placed a hand on the arm of both girls. “Hey, can you not do this, you guys? You're going to wake up the you-know-what.”

“I’m doing this for you, Luz!” Willow growled through her teeth. She put her foot on Luz’s stomach and wrenched back on Larry as hard as she could. A clump of Larry’s hair came loose in Luz’s hand, eliciting a painful howl from the disembodied mystic. Luz fell hard, her body landing fully on the coffee table in the middle of the Park’s living room. The fact that it held together was a testament to its maker’s handiwork.

Willow crashed to the floor with Larry and rolled backwards in an out of control somersault. They hit the wall and both laid still and quiet.

Gus rushed to her side. “Willow! Willow, are you alright? Say something horticultural.” He carefully rolled her onto her back and gasped as her eyes lit with yellow flame. “Luz...” he said, voice trembling with trepidation.

Luz clambered awkwardly off the coffee table with a sore jaw.  _ Man, that girl is strong.  _ She heard Gus call her name and looked up to see fiery-eyed Willow’s body lift off the floor and hover in mid-air. “Um. What are you doing, Willow?”

Willow alighted gently on her feet and bent down to pick up Larry, whose eyes glowed yellow the same as hers. She cradled him in her arms. “At last!” they said in freakish unison. “It’s been so long since I’ve had a proper body. Tickled that this one came available so readily, I am.” Their matched tones were thick with menace.

Luz whispered to Gus out of the corner of her mouth, “What just happened?”

He bent down and picked up the Soothsayer box off the floor. “Didn’t you read the warning? Mishandling may result in unexpected revelations, depression, possession, or death!”

_ I thought it was just legal mumbo jumbo!  _ “Possession!?”

Gus nodded vigorously.

“Well, it’s time to head this off at the pass!” She lunged suddenly at Willow to snatch the Soothsayer from her arms.

“Hey hey hey!” said Larry-Willow. “I’m the only one allowed to make head jokes around here. Got it?” Willow raised a hand and slapped Luz across the room with preternatural strength. She landed next to the eyeball ficus. “An’ just to make sure you two don’t interfere…” Willow made a green circle with her finger and the ficus began to expand, reaching for Luz and Gus and wrapping them in its woody branches. They laughed malevolently. “It’s time I was...heading out.”

Willow made a break for the door with Larry in her arms and burst into the stairwell. Luz heard her footsteps run down the stairs and recede into the night. They remained quiet for a moment, suspended in the overgrown ficus. Some of its eyeballs winked at them.

Gus finally spoke. “Well, at least we didn’t wake up the babyberry.” 

It was true. It seemed both it and Willow’s parents slept through the whole ordeal. Luz briefly wondered if they put earplugs in before they went to bed. It was a good bet considering the cranky plant they were hosting for the weekend.

She started twisting and gracelessly wriggled her way out of the ficus, leaving a pile of broken twigs and leaves on the floor. She grabbed Gus’s foot and pulled him out too. He fell onto the leaves with a grunt.

“What do we do now?” Gus asked her. “We have no idea where that thing took Willow. Should we wake up her dads?”

“Nope! They deal in furniture, not crazy, talking heads. There’s only one person who could possibly have any experience with something this weird. I’m calling Eda.” Like most homes in the Demon Realm, the Park’s apartment was equipped with a phonebird. However, Luz had never actually attempted to use one before. She carefully examined the small black spots on the bird’s breast.  _ I guess it works like a cell phone?  _ She worked her fingers over the buttons, entering the phone number Eda had made her memorize, and put it to her ear. It started to sing. She heard the bird on the other end exhale sharply as it was picked up. “Thank goodness! Eda, you’ve got to help me!”

“Hellooo? Hoot hoot,” came an excruciatingly annoying voice.

“Hooty, it’s Luz. We need help. Give Eda the phone. Er, the bird.”

“How come no one ever asks for my help? Hoot.”

Luz hissed through her teeth, “Hooty, this is important. I need to talk to Eda right away!”

“When are my needs going to be important to you, Luz?”

She was about to scream at the — she still wasn’t sure what exactly Hooty was — when she heard Eda’s voice on the line. “Luz, it’s Eda. What’s wrong?”

The girl grimaced. “Okay, this is going to sound weird, but I sort of bought a talking, mummified head named Larry from the Night Market to use his dark magic to interfere in my other friend’s personal biz and he kind of possessed and kidnapped Willow.”

“Oh, Larry!” Eda snort-laughed into the phone. “Yeah, he’s a real jerk.”

“You know Larry!?”

“Red hair, wrinkly face, bad teeth, worse breath? Used to be attached to a body? That Larry?”

“That sounds about right.”

“Yeah, I know him. You could say I had to cut him down to size once.”

“So, what’s he going to do with Willow? How do I get her back?”

“I imagine he’s going to try to attach himself to her body.”

Luz twisted her face into a look of disgust. “Ew!”

“I know, right?” Eda snort-laughed again. “So, here’s what you have to do—”

Luz listened carefully and memorized her mentor’s instructions. After several minutes she released the bird so it could return to its perch.

The whole time Gus had been patiently staring out the living room window. “Okay so, what now?”

“Now we're going grocery shopping.” Luz grinned at him deviously.

Coming next week:

Chapter 5: Risky Moves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Larry is inspired by the Norse mythical character, Mimir.


	5. Risky Moves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emira and Edric teach Amity the truth about rejection

Chapter 5

Risky Moves

Amity walked carefully through the Bonesborough market square. The usual booths and stalls were set up in the normal arrangement and small groups of people were milling around in the morning light. She stopped to watch one group; all fairly typical Islanders doing their shopping. They went along the row of stands, examining the merchandise and talking amongst themselves. Then they crossed the aisle and went back along that row, doing the same thing. When they reached the end of that one, they crossed back to where they began and did the circuit all over again.  _ It’s very convincing, _ she had to admit.

She strolled past the Book Nook and saw the proprietor standing inside, an elderly witch whom she was on friendly terms with. The old man with white hair and spectacles often had good recommendations for her to read. He smiled and waved, but Amity ignored him and kept moving. There was someone else she was there to see.

The green-haired witch spotted a familiar-looking figure browsing the wares at the Teeth Emporium and slowly walked towards the dental-monger’s booth. Her trepidation grew with every step; she could hear her pulse drumming in her ears like distant thunder. Her fear pulled at her, threatening to drag her away. It whispered in her mind in her own voice, coaxing her to retreat. She stopped three paces from the person and stood stiffly with her fists clenched at her sides. “H-hey...there—” She reconsidered that approach and took another half-step closer. “Um hi, Luz.” She chuckled unconvincingly and felt like she was about to collapse into mush and seep between the cobbles.

Luz turned around with a dozen teeth from various indeterminate species in her hand. “Oh! Hey, Amity! I didn’t expect to see you here in the market this morning.”

_ Okay, act casual.  _ Amity put a hand on the stand’s countertop and attempted to lean against. It was too low and she felt like she was stooped over and quickly stood up straight again. Her face was on fire at that point, or at least felt like it. She turned and half-sat on the counter instead. _ Ugh, I am messing this up big time. _ “So, what...are you up to?” Her voice was tense with anxiety.

Luz shrugged and accidentally spilled some of the teeth she was holding. “Oh, you know me; just doing some shopping. I love shopping!”

“So, Luz…” she began. “I-I-I was thinking…”  _ When did it get so hard to breathe? I...Oh my Titan!  _ Amity shook her head and gulped in air as Luz looked at her with a perplexed expression.  _ Relax. Make eye contact. Keep going.  _ She forced herself to look into Luz’s soft brown eyes. “Um...I, uh…” 

She spontaneously decided to put her right hand on Luz’s shoulder, and in order to do so she stood back up and took another step forward, right onto one of the teeth that Luz had dropped. It was a long, cylindrical fang and it rolled under the sole of her shoe. Amity suddenly found herself looking up at Luz from the ground. 

Luz raised an eyebrow. “Um, you okay?”

“Aaaaugh!” Amity leaped to her feet and ran away, Luz watching in absolute bewilderment. She zipped between a pair of stalls, straight into a wall she couldn’t see.  _ Titan blast it! _ Luz, the other shoppers, and the market square all evaporated around her and she was back in the parlor of Blight Manor, staggering backwards and clutching her nose.

Edric came in from the kitchen with a frozen bag of vegetables and handed it to her. “Wow. I did not see that coming, Mittens. I have to admit, your romantic abilities are providing more entertainment than I had hoped.”

“Ugh, that was so dumb of me. I panicked.” Amity ignored his jibe and clutched the bag to her face in an effort to reduce the pain radiating from her nose. Her pride was going to take a little more time to mend.

Emira was sitting on one of the chairs Edric had pushed out of the way earlier. She tented her fingers thoughtfully and looked up at the ceiling. Their mother had recently paid a well-regarded member of the local Art Coven a handsome sum of snails to paint elaborate scenes on the ceiling depicting the Emperor’s rise to power. She was quite proud of it and had been crowing to her friends since it was completed. Neither of the twins had yet developed the courage to vandalize the mural and incur their mother’s wrath, even if they would certainly redirect all blame onto their younger sister. “Amity, tell me what you think it would look like if it doesn’t work; if Luz says ‘no’.”

Amity sighed and pinched her eyes shut. It was like imagining the worst possible day of her life. “I guess, she’d look at me like I was a puking trash slug. And then she’d tell me all the things she doesn’t like about me.”

“Like what?” Emira asked. Her tone was neutral rather than teasing.

It was almost too painful to think about in specific terms. “Oh, I don’t know! Like, how I was mean to Willow. Or that I try too hard. Or I’m too serious. Or too scared. Or that I’m too short. Or too skinny. Or that she thinks I look weird because I’m not a human like her.”

“I see.” Emira nodded. “Anything else?”

“And then she would tell that it was stupid for me to even think she would go out with me, and not to talk to her ever again.”

Emira stood up and whispered with Edric as Amity nursed her nose. After a few minutes the twins pulled their heads apart and Emira announced, “Okay. You’re going to try it again. And I want you to know ahead of time that she isn’t going to say ‘yes’. Understand?”

Amity scowled at them. “What’s the point of that!?” Her frustration was climbing again. 

“You’ve never asked anyone out before. At least, not that I know of.” Emira glanced at Edric. He concurred with a shrug. “And so, you have never actually been rejected. I have. Ed has—”

He agreed, “Lots of times. Lots. But just so you know, I’ve had yeses too.” Emira nodded along with him.

Amity wondered openly at that. She’d heard rumors around school about both of them. But neither of the twins ever brought anyone home. She never saw them with anyone. But then, with parents like theirs, bringing a date home was a rather daunting prospect anyway. But they were accomplished illusionists, as they had aptly demonstrated. Perhaps they just didn’t want to be seen. Perhaps on odd occasions when she had seen the two twins at school or out and about, one was actually the other’s date disguised with a glamour. The implications were perplexing to contemplate, and she shook her head to focus on the task at hand.

“So,” Emira continued, “let’s do it again. And Luz will reject you just like I’ve been rejected. And I think you’ll see it’s not how you think it is.”

Amity consented and threw the frozen vegetables to her brother. The twins traced their light blue circles with their fingers, causing the air in the parlor to shimmer and transform until it was the market again. The two older Blights disappeared through a stall and Amity was back where she had started. She headed straight to the Tooth Emporium this time, knowing that is where the illusion of Luz would be.

The false Luz was once again assembling an odd selection of teeth from a set of partitioned trays. Amity clenched her jaw as she approached and quickly tapped her on the shoulder. Luz turned around and again spilled some of the teeth in her hand. “Oh hi, Amity!”

“Hey, Luz.” Amity spat the words out. She remembered how she had fallen before and made a mental note not to take a step. She felt the fear rise in her belly like fire, but it was tempered by the knowledge that the outcome was already predetermined. It didn’t matter how charming she might be. It didn’t matter if she made eye contact or said all the right things. All she had to do was go through the motions and receive the penalty Emira had in store for her, whatever it might be. Amity screwed her eyes shut and charged straight into the words she wanted to say to Luz, “Um, I just wanted to tell you that I think you’re wonderful and brave and sweet and I really like you. And not just as a friend, Luz. I like-like you. Do you want to go out with me?” She bunched her shoulders and cringed as she waited for the illusory Luz to scathe her.

For a moment nothing happened and she opened her eyes again. 

The human girl was looking at her tenderly. “Amity? Look, I’m sorry.” Her words were quiet. “You’ve been a great friend to me, and I care about you. But I’m not interested in you that way. I hope you can be okay if we can just keep being friends. I don’t want to lose that.”

Amity took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Okay,” she squeaked out. She felt her shoulders relax. She had expected to cry in an auto-de-fe of public humiliation, but she only blinked away a few tears. It hurt to hear those words, but it was disappointment instead of pain. She could live with disappointment.

Luz and the market square dissolved again and she looked at her siblings.

“Guess you won’t be needing this,” Edric held up the frozen vegetables.

Amity shook her head, clearing away the lingering emotions. “Is that really what it will be like?”

Emira stepped forward and put an arm over her shoulder. “Probably, if she says ‘no’. If Luz is really your friend, she doesn’t want to be mean or humiliate you, and she will understand. And maybe it won’t be like that at all.” The older sister smiled. “Maybe she’ll say ‘yes’. But if she does say ‘no’, it might hurt at first, but the pain and the crush will fade away. Then someday when you aren’t even expecting it, you’ll see a cutie with a cool hook earring and a sweet, fluffy griffin that sends you head over heels all over again.”

“That seems...unusually specific,” Amity pointed out.

Emira covered her mouth with her hand. “I may have said too much.”

Edric sat down on the floor in front of her. “Mittens, you’re always trying to control things. That’s why you’re so good at abominations, like Dad. But you’re not the little miss perfect you act like sometimes. When it comes to your feelings, don’t control them. When you try to bend them to your will, you’re just hurting yourself. Be good to yourself instead.”

“And when it comes to love,” Emira added, “don’t try to control it at all. You have to leap into the chaos to find happiness. It can be scary, there’s no doubt. Especially the first time. Maybe even the first several times. It’s kind of like grudgby, I guess. You’re going to get knocked down. If you’re afraid to get hit, you’ll never win. Once you get it into your head that getting hit is okay, that’s when you can really play the game.” She smirked to herself. “And hey, as far as that analogy goes, maybe Luz will be your rusty smidge.”

Amity nodded thoughtfully. “Thanks, guys...for this. And for it not being a lame prank. I-I-I need to go think.” She turned and headed to the hallway and the stairs. Behind her she could hear the parlor furniture already being moved back into its original arrangement.

“Our pranks aren’t lame,” Edric called after her.

She ascended to the second floor and walked down the hall as if in a daze.  _ I had it wrong the whole time. Luz won’t hurt me. She’s never wanted to hurt me, even when we dueled. _ She walked into her bedroom and closed the door. Crouching down beside her bed, she pulled out her leg cast. She had stuffed it with potpourri to get the sweaty gym sock smell out. She admired the picture Luz had drawn on it for a moment, then set it on her bed. Then she pulled out the small box with the letter A on the lid. It was her keepsake box where she kept her most valuable treasures.

She carefully opened it and looked reverently at the tiara she had placed inside weeks ago. She had spent the whole lead-up to Grom fretting about facing her fear, but when Luz was in danger she leapt directly between her and Grometheus at her own peril then danced with her crush in front of the whole school. She hadn’t even considered what could go wrong. Then she thought about how she had kissed Luz in the play. She hadn’t been able to do it in the cave scene and was only able to at the end of the play when she lost control of herself. And Luz had said it was a great kiss.

_ The ability to do this was there, in me, the whole time. Don’t think. Just leap. Let go. I can do it!  _ The words became like a matra as she repeated them.  _ Don’t think. Just leap. Let go. I can do it!  _ She picked up the tiara and put it on her head, settling it into place. It fit as if it were meant for her, because of course, it was. It had magically appeared on her head after she and Luz defeated Grometheus together.

She put the keepsake box and the cast back under her bed, then opened the door to her room. She walked through the hall with the pictures of Blight ancestors staring grimly at her. She shrugged off the weight of family expectations. 

She descended the stairs and stopped at the entrance to the parlor. Emira and Edric were sitting in the massage chairs, scrolling through their penstagrams. Amity cleared her throat to get their attention.

“And where are you off to?” Edric asked.

“I’m going to the library to get something.”

Emira shook her head in mock disappointment. “Mom said not to leave except for school, groceries, or for something important. It’s the middle of the night and we don’t need food.”

“This is important. It’s very important.” With that, she opened the front door and walked out into the night.

Coming next week:

Chapter 6: On the Edge of Insanity


	6. On the Edge of Insanity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz and Gus rescue Willow resulting in a change of perspective

Chapter 6

On the Edge of Insanity

Luz crept up slowly and studied the scene before her from behind a screen of burnt-red forest undergrowth in the low, crepuscular light before dawn. A huge, half-dead tree leaned out over a small pool with the side facing the pool, the dead half, sporting bare, withered limbs. A gnarled, twisted trunk enhanced its ominous appearance. The tree had long, drooping branches that marked it out to be the Boiling Isles’ red-leafed version of the human realm’s willow tree, which was ironic, because Willow was hanging upside-down from one of its dead limbs by a rope around her ankles. Her arms dangled limply and her eyes, still yellow-lit, stared straight ahead. In her belt was a knife; its deadly-sharp blade curved like a sinuous snake.

The pool itself was unlike anything Luz had ever seen before. It was a dozen feet across, roughly circular, and wasn’t water so much as roiling, wet potters’ clay. The thick, gray sludge churned slowly, driven by unseen forces below. Bubbles of gas erupted from its surface at intervals with sickening pops and released foul-smelling odors. The edge of the pool was devoid of life; only clumps of dead grass clung to the bare dirt at the periphery. Eda had said this was where Larry would take Willow. She called it ‘The Well of Insanity’.

In truth, it wasn’t that far from Bonesborough; just a short walk through thick forest. It wasn’t even particularly difficult to find. Luz just had to follow the putrid scent of decay that wafted on the gentle breeze. But that was, perhaps, why it was so little known. The smell hung over the area like an omnipresent miasma, unpleasant enough to drive away anyone who wasn’t there for the express purpose of committing unspeakable acts to a victim or rescuing said victim, which accounted for everyone present. And Willow, the victim, of course.

Luz spotted Larry, the gregarious Soothsayer, floating in mid-air near Willow. His eyes shone fiery yellow like his captive’s. When Willow had tumbled into the wall with him in her parents’ apartment, it had triggered a magic spell that caused the two to become linked. Larry had full control over her, possessing her mind, body, and magic, and wasn’t about to let the opportunity to claim a new torso and complete set of limbs slip from his figurative grasp.

Eda had told Luz that Larry would need to perform a magic ritual which could only be done at the Well of Insanity. Willow would be made to hang upside-down over the festering well from a tree and her head sliced off. Meanwhile, Larry would continue to be able to control her body and would make her cut the rope as well. Once her body dropped into the Well, Larry would fall in too. He would emerge, joined to her at the neck, anatomically complete once more.

Larry was cheerfully singing a jaunty tune to himself as he zipped back and forth, making sure his preparations were complete. Willow followed along in chorus with him, making the scene seem like a strange, barbaric duet. He suddenly stopped and addressed his unwitting vassal, “It looks like we’re all ready here, missy. Let’s get this show on the road, yeah?” Willow echoed his words.

Larry’s eyes flashed brighter and she drew the serpentine blade from her belt, holding it to her throat. Larry came in close and looked into her eyes, matched to his with yellow fire. “Make sure you do a good job. Nice clean cut, yeah?” She said the same in unison. He was mocking her. She was fully under his control and had no choice in the matter. She slowly dragged the wicked edge across her neck, a first stroke which produced a drip of blood that ran down the slender instrument to the tip and fell into the Well. Willow did not so much as flinch.

That’s when Luz burst out of the brush and charged at the pair, an ice glyph card held in front of her. “Let my friend go, you dental hygienist’s nightmare!”

“Oh, for the love of the Titan!” Willow stopped cutting as Larry cursed and looped around to face the interloper. He growled at Luz menacingly. “I intend to, kid. But first I gotta take a little off the top.”

Luz threw the glyph card into the Well. “You need to chill out, creep!” It activated as it hit the mud, freezing it over and temporarily preventing the completion of Larry’s ritual.

“You’re not gonna stop me! Not when I’m so close to getting my life back!” Willow traced a green circle in the air with the blade of the knife. The undergrowth around Luz erupted, circling and entrapping her in writhing branches. Luz struggled against them, wrenching this way and that in a vain attempt to free an arm. Willow’s plant magic was too strong.

“I shoulda killed you the first time, kid,” said Larry-Willow to Luz. One of the thin plant tendrils, barely as thick as a pencil, slithered up her back and wrapped around her neck, constricting her throat. She stopped thrashing and clawed at the vine with her fingers, gasping painfully like a fish out of water. More branches pulled her arms away and the tendril tightened like a piano wire until it seemed like Luz’s neck could barely get any thinner. Still, she gawped silently.

Gus burst out of the brush. “Hold on, Luz! I’m coming!” He rushed to the human’s aid, summoning an illusory cutlass as he came. He chopped at the plants holding her in place, bringing the blade down over and over until a branch restraining her arm broke. Luz used the opening to pull the tendril from around her neck and suck in the tainted air.

“Seriously? Are you two done yet?” Larry-Willow drawled. “I’m glad I got the plant girl, because you both are totally outmatched here.” Willow, still very much suspended from the tree, made another green circle in the air. Even more vines snaked their way out of the undergrowth and latched onto the would-be rescuers. “I mean, Titan’s sakes, we’re in the woods, yeah? The whole place is a weapon for her. What’ve you got? An ice rink and a shiny, blue sword?” He grinned menacingly, exposing his ghastly dentition. “Let’s just end this.”

Willow’s eyes flashed and the forest plant life began pulling at her friends’ limbs, attempting to wrench them from their sockets. Luz screamed long and deep as her left knee disjointed. Gus’s cries of pain melded with hers, creating a discordant choir of misery.

Larry looked on with satisfaction as the minutes ticked by, engrossed in the suffering of his victims. He gradually became concerned. “Why isn’t you guys dead yet?”

Gus choked out a reply through ragged breaths, “Because...we’re...the distraction.” Both he and the human vanished suddenly into thin air.

Larry spun around in confusion, looking for the real rescuers. He spotted one in the huge tree above his captive. Luz was crouching on the dead branch Willow had tied her ankles to, one hand grasped firmly around the rope. She slapped a glyph card down onto the knot with her other hand. It burst into flame and broke. Luz heaved on the rope with all her strength and swung Willow to the bare dirt, just on the edge of the Well.

Larry shrieked in rage. “You forget one thing, kid. You’re in a tree, and I still control the plant girl!” The decrepit willow came to life, the winnowy branches lashing at Luz, wrapping around her arms and legs just as the forest undergrowth had to the false her.

“We thought of that too.” Luz flicked her fingers like a stage magician and a different glyph card appeared in her hand; her plant glyph. She bent her wrist and activated it against the branches wrapped around her. The tree changed perceptively, from restraining to supporting her. She leaned forward and the tree bent, propelling her towards the levitating head. It accelerated her quickly and she clenched her hand into a fist.

The momentum of tree and girl connected with Larry’s temple vis a vis said fist, cracking his brittle, old bones. Lacking any kind of support, he spun out of control and fell, smashing into the thick sheet of ice that was still covering the Well of Insanity. The beaten head lay unmoving.

The tree let Luz down gently on the edge of the Well and she rushed to Willow’s side. The dark-haired witch was still breathing, but had a minor cut on her neck and her unblinking eyes still blazed with yellow fire. Luz called for Gus.

He came out of the woods where he had been hiding, wearing the baby harness across his chest and the heavy pink horticultural bag over his shoulder. The babyberry remained asleep and he moved with care not to wake it. He fished a spherical glass bottle out of the bag and handed it to Luz. It sloshed with a vibrant purple potion. They had concocted it together from ingredients purchased at the Night Market.

Luz pulled the cork with her teeth and, holding Willow’s jaw open with one hand, carefully dribbled the potion into the plant witch’s mouth. Willow coughed and sputtered and the yellow light faded from her eyes. She sat up suddenly and reached for her throat. Her hand came away wet with blood.

Luz pulled a healing glyph card from the unfashionable pouch around her waist. “Here, let me see,” she said gently. “It’s going to sting, just so you know.” Willow lifted her chin and allowed Luz to apply the glyph to her wound. She cried a little as her flesh knitted together with a sizzling sound.

“I saw everything that happened, but I couldn’t do anything.” She burst into tears. “Luz, I almost killed myself. I almost killed you.”

Luz gave her a hug as Gus found the serpentine knife in the dirt. He knelt down and carefully cut the rope that bound Willow’s ankles. “I know. I’m sorry too. It’s my fault for buying the stupid Soothsayer. But we’re all okay now. And the babyberry didn’t even wake up. Look!”

Willow examined the plant, snoozing in the harness with its face buried in Gus’s tunic. “Yeah, it didn’t. You guys aren’t half bad with plants.”

Luz shook her head with a sardonic smile. “It even slept through the Night Market.”

Gus interjected. “Um, guys. The Soothsayer. It’s doing something!”

Willow and Luz turned to see Larry rise into the air above the ice. One eye blazed with yellow while the other, where Luz had punched him, flickered. He held unsteadily in place and opened his mouth.

“You can’t hurt us anymore, repugnante!” Luz yelled at him.

He fixed his fiery gaze on her and intoned in a booming voice, “A close-held secret you wished to steal. But to you your own are not revealed. You keep friendship with tenacity, but one is set wide apart. The one friend you call Amity is far more precious to your heart.”

The words spoken, he fell to the ice again, and laid there. His eyes continued to flicker faintly as he repeated the divination, muttering it to himself. 

The three friends stared in silent awe at the Soothsayer. Luz felt a shiver rise up her spine and goosebumps prickle her skin. “Wha—What do you suppose that meant?”

Willow and Gus exchanged knowing glances. “I have no idea,” the plant witch lied.

The riddle unraveled itself in Luz’s mind like an epiphany and she knew then instantly what it meant, breathing heavily as if someone had punched her in the stomach.  _ This is a trick! _ “It’s not true, though. Right?”

“He’s the Soothsayer. Soothsayers say the truth.” Gus looked at her solemnly.

“But—But I broke him. He’s broken; not working right.” Luz shook her head.  _ This can’t be real! _

“The warning on the box, Luz. It said mishandling can cause unexpected revelations,” he reminded her gently.

Luz stood up and stepped awkwardly onto the ice, slide-stepping towards Larry as he repeated the divination over and over in a low voice. Her comfortable flats lacked traction and she slipped and fell with an ‘oof’, cracking the ice.

“Be careful,” Willow warned. She held up a finger in case she needed to use the half-dead tree to rescue her friend.

Luz scrambled the rest of the way on her hands and knees and picked up the mumbling, broken head. “What did you do to me!?” She cried desperately as she shook him by his pointy ears, causing his jaw to waggle open and shut and reveal his hideous teeth. He didn’t react except to continue repeating himself. In truth, Larry hadn’t done anything to her, except open her eyes. But what she discovered was overwhelming and disorienting, like when Amity had guided her out of the cave by Lake Lacuna and into the bright sun.  _ No. I can’t be...It’s too...But she...the Grom-posal biz… _

Gus and Willow called to her, beckoning her to come to them before she fell through the ice into the Well of Insanity. She awkwardly crawled to them, dragging Larry along behind her by one ear.

Willow took her other hand and pulled her up to her feet. “Are you okay?”

Luz stared into the middle distance, the personification of shock. She broke out in a cold sweat as a creeping sense of anxiety overtook her. “What’s happening to me!?”

“It’s not that bad,” Willow soothed her. “You just need to talk to Amity. I think that would be best.”

“What!?” Luz freaked out. “I—I—I can’t tell her that I like her! I need to think.” She sniffed the putrid miasma of the Well. “I need fresh air. Yes! Fresh air!” She broke out into a run, still carrying the severed head of Larry with her.

Willow and Gus looked at each other and sighed in unison.

Coming next week:

Chapter 7: The Crossroads

and

Chapter 8: A Leap into the Light


	7. The Crossroads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luz faces the stunning revelation of her own feelings.

Chapter 7

The Crossroads

Luz stumbled down the street, contemplating the words of the severed head in her hands. It was morning and she hadn’t slept for a full day. The Night Market had packed up and vanished hours before, and the more honest citizens of Bonesborough were making their way to open their places of business. She was jostled by passing pedestrians, but it failed to even register to her that there was anyone else around. To the extent that she was aware of her surroundings, she vaguely knew that she was headed in the approximate direction of the Owl House.

The severed head, the Soothsayer named Larry, continued mumbling his divination over and over. Each time he started it, a wave of dread spilled over Luz. It had come on as a sort of epiphany; a piece of herself that she didn’t even know was missing which fit perfectly into place. But that newly found piece only served to elucidate the absence of another. It was dragged into the foreground of her consciousness, and she felt the full power of that void in her heart. She had thought it over in her head, approaching it from every angle she could conceive of, and finally accepted that it was the truth.

It wasn’t that she didn’t know she liked girls; girls as well as boys. That wasn’t what surprised her; she had come to realize it years before. There had been other girls that she liked, human girls from home. But since she didn’t have any real friends there, her dating prospects had seemed quite dismal. She had totally pushed any serious consideration of finding someone out of her mind, preferring to experience love through the books she read. They had not prepared her for this.

_ But...Amity? It all makes sense,  _ she thought in dismay.  _ Before we were friends...before I knew we had anything in common...and she was scary...I was drawn to her anyway. I wanted to see her. I wanted to be where she was. I wanted her to notice me. I wanted her to think I was cool. I wanted to...connect. _

She took a halting, almost sobbing breath.  _ Then I thought I just wanted to be friends, book buddies. But it wasn’t enough. I wanted to involve myself in her biz. I wanted to be in her classes. I wanted to be closer to her. I just...never knew why I did. I was so wrapped up in my glyphs, Eda’s curse, the Emperor; I didn’t even think about it.  _

All the while, she plodded down the street and Larry mumbled on.  _ But what about Amity?  _ She knew the answer instantly and it devastated her more than she had been since the day Eda was captured. She had lost a mentor then. But this was not a loss; what she wanted at that moment was so completely out of reach, it was unfathomable. As she listened to the Soothsayer, she believed with total conviction that she could never have Amity’s love.

Things had started off rocky with Amity. They slowly reached an understanding, then found common ground. They bonded over the Good Witch Azura books. But still, Amity could be prickly. She kept secrets from Luz.  _ The Grom-posal note. _ The realization ground her to pieces.  _ She danced with me, but she’s in love with someone else. That’s what Em and Ed were teasing her about. That’s why she didn’t want to kiss me when we rehearsed at the beach. And when she did on stage, she must’ve been thinking of that other person. That’s why she looked at me so strangely afterward.  _ The kiss. Luz had thought it was impressive at the time. But in light of her new perspective, she cherished the memory of how Amity’s lips felt against her own. Because it would only ever be a memory.  _ Because it was meant for someone else. _

If Luz had eaten anything since the day before she would have vomited it all over the sidewalk. She was utterly demoralized. Wrecked. Ruined. Razed to the ground. If the door to the human realm still existed, she would’ve walked through it then and there and never looked back.

Luz unceremoniously dumped Larry into a public garbage can and kept walking. Another block. Two more. Despite wallowing in despair, she sensed someone coming towards her from the other direction with clipped, rapid footsteps. She didn’t bother to look up. She took a half-step to the side, expecting to brush by them.

The other person side-stepped the same way she did at the same time, and they collided. She bumped heads with them and felt hard metal. They both landed on the street, and something fell out of their hand. Luz looked down to see an envelope. “Wow, I’m sorry,” she mumbled half-heartedly as she stood up.

“Luz!”

She recognized the voice and her blood froze. She glanced over to see Amity on her hands and knees, reaching to collect her envelope. Luz reached for it too and they picked it up together.

Luz searched Amity’s face. She didn’t seem upset. She actually looked relieved to see her.  _ And for some reason she’s wearing her tiara.  _ Luz realized that was the metal she hit her head on when they collided. She was mystified by it. “You look...nice.”

Amity laughed nervously and brushed her hair behind her ear with her fingers. “I was actually looking for you. I went to the Owl House to see you. Lilith was there.” Her face clouded over for a moment. “She said you stayed the night at Willow’s apartment — something about a baby plant — so I was going there to find you.”

The fact that Amity had been looking for her piqued a tiny spark of hope. She felt warmth in her cheeks. “It—Yeah, it was kind of a crazy night.”

Amity furrowed her brow with sudden concern. “Are you feeling okay? Have you slept.”

Luz realized she must look a sight after all she had been through, hair messed, clothes soiled and rumbled. She suspected the stench of the Well of Insanity lingered on her. “I...um, no.”

“Anyway, I was thinking about my Grom note and how you wanted to find out who I was afraid to ask, to help me get together with them,” Amity continued.

_ Another reminder that she wants to be with someone else.  _ Luz felt her stomach lurch and looked down at her shoes. “Uh, sorry about that again.”

“Well, I...I want to try it.” Amity smiled and held up the envelope next to the tiara on her head.

Luz looked at it and groaned, “Is that what I think it is?” 

“I put it back together.” She offered the envelope to Luz, her fingers trembling slightly. “I was, uh...hoping you’d still be interested in helping me, you know, get a date.”

Luz took it and stared at it in her hands. It was far, far worse than the severed head she’d been holding earlier.

The green-haired witch seemed to sense Luz’s reluctance. She took a deep breath. “I guess you’re pretty worn out after taking care of that baby plant all night. Don’t open it now. Go back to the Owl House. Get some rest. Open it when you feel better and let me know what you think. Okay?”

She mustered a meek ‘Okay’.

Amity smiled at her in a cryptic way, and started walking again, slower than when she had been looking for Luz.

The human girl slipped the envelope into the pouch where she kept her glyphs. She didn’t remember anything that happened after that. She walked the rest of the way in a complete daze. She stumbled through the front door of the Owl House, ignoring Hooty’s barrage of questions. Eda was sitting on the couch drinking a cup of hot tea. She had bandages on three of her fingers, evidently covering burns. “Your friend was here looking for you. The short one with the hair. Did you see her?”

Luz nodded, but didn’t explain any further. The elder witch watched in silent bemusement as she trudged to the hallway and up the stairs to the storage room she lived in. She pulled the envelope from her pouch and laid it on the window sill next to her cell phone and the water-damaged copy of Forbearance Betrayed.  _ It’s just not fair. _ Luz laid down on her bedroll and cried herself to sleep with soft sobs.

She awoke hours later to a dark and silent house. She had fallen asleep while it was still morning but when she opened her eyes, the sky outside was dull and grim. Memories of the previous night’s events washed over her. The babyberry. Larry. Rescuing Willow. The Soothsayer’s last revelation. And finally, Amity’s envelope.  _ It was all just a bad dream, right? _ Luz pulled a light glyph card from her pouch and activated it, casting the old storage room in a soft glow. With uneasy anticipation, she directed her gaze to the window sill. It was not a dream. The envelope still sat there, where she left it. It seemed innocent enough, a simple paper sleeve containing a single piece of paper inside, and yet for Luz it took on an air of ominous foreboding.

She picked it up and held it as if it were a venomous demon.  _ So, this is who Amity wanted to ask to Grom; the person she is in love with.  _ Luz’s heart felt fragile; her breath came in weak gasps. All her previous bravado about helping to pair Amity up with the object of her affection melted away. She couldn’t bear to see whose name laid within.

An idea born of panic took hold of her and she reached into her waist pouch again. It only took a moment for her grasping fingers to find her pen. In a flash, she drew a fire glyph on the front of the envelope. Her fingers hovered over it, tempted to obliterate the offending note in a burst of flame and smoke.

_ I—I can’t.  _ She stayed her hand.  _ It’s not fair to Amity. I told her I would help and I adore her. Even if I can’t be happy, I want her to be. It’s what a good friend would do. And I will be her friend, no matter what.  _ She stared at the envelope for a while longer until she could summon enough courage to open it. She slid her finger under the flap and slowly broke the seal. Her stomach felt like molten lead. Inside was the folded pink slip of paper. It had been ripped in two pieces, one damaged by water, and bound together again with tape to make it a single sheet again. There was no mistaking it. It was Amity’s Grom-posal note. She took the note from the envelope and braced herself. She began unfolding it with a cringe; one eye shut. With a quavering voice, she read the words out loud to herself.

_ Luz, _

_ Will you go to Grom with me? _

_ Amity _

She stared at Amity’s neat, cursive handwriting for precisely ten seconds, then scrambled to her feet and ran out the door as fast as she could go, carrying the note with her.


	8. A Leap into the Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Amity receives an unexpected late-night visitor

Chapter 8

A Leap into the Light

Amity sat at her desk in her room. She had been there almost all day, fascinated with the strange object that laid in front of her. She didn’t know what it was when she found it, aside from being a grotesque trophy of some sort, or where it came from. But she suspected —or, perhaps hoped— that Luz had something to do with it.

She had spent most of the previous night in her library hideout. It was no trouble for her to be there after hours. She even had her own key, given to her by her librarian friends. First, she had repaired her Grom-posal note and placed it in an envelope, then she borrowed a beanbag chair from the children’s section and slept until the dawn light filtered in through the stained glass windows. She awakened filled with fear, but calmed by a sense of purpose.  _ And besides, Luz might say ‘no’, but she isn’t going to hurt me or stop being friends with me.  _ She had repeated her mantra to boost her confidence as she prepared to leave.  _ Don’t think. Just leap. Let go. I can do it! _

She had put the bean bag chair back into the children’s section and left the library, heading straight for the Owl House. When she arrived, the plan she had in her mind started to come apart. The unsettling and shrill door demon refused to allow her to enter, frustrating her until Lilith came outside.  _ Lilith! _ Amity had been startled to see her. Luz had hinted before that the former mistress of the Emperor’s Coven was taking refuge in the Owl House, but Amity hadn’t expected to actually encounter her. She learned from the brief, stilted exchange that Luz had spent the night at Willow’s apartment and had some kind of difficulties.

The morning was definitely off to a different start than Amity had intended, but she was still determined to make it work. She quickly walked through Bonesborough towards the Park’s apartment in the business district. She hadn’t been there since she was a little girl, but she still remembered where it was. However, it presented a new challenge. She had her head down as she walked, trying to think of a way to give Luz the envelope privately without embarrassing herself or Luz in front of her friends, when she ran headlong into the human herself.

She had initially counted it as a stroke of good luck, until she saw the expression on Luz’s face. The human girl had clearly been through something traumatic, but didn’t seem to want to discuss it. Amity mentally revised her plan again. Instead of admitting her feelings right then and there, she handed Luz the envelope and asked her to look at it later. Luz agreed and left for the Owl House, while Amity kept walking. She felt the wave of pressure that had been building inside her release, mostly.  _ It is done...kind of.  _ The note was in Luz’s hands. It was just a matter of waiting for a response.

The short time that followed was an emotional interregnum for her, with all possible outcomes seeming equally possible. In response, she felt simultaneously sensitive and numb, alive and dead. Amity had decided on wandering aimlessly through town to bide her time, but only a few short blocks after running into Luz, she heard a low, coarse voice calling her name from inside a public garbage can. That’s where she found the severed head. It had skin like wrinkled, old leather and a scalp of thin, limp red hair. Its temple had been bashed in, its eyes flickered with faded yellow fire, and its breath was simply terrible. But there was one thing she had found compelling about it. It muttered the same rhyme over and over, “A close-held secret you wished to steal. But to you your own are not revealed. You keep friendship with tenacity, but one is set wide apart. The one friend you call Amity is far more precious to your heart.”

She carefully carried it back to Blight Manor and set it on her desk, trying for the rest of the day to tease out its secrets. The head’s rambling verse seemed like the sort of prophecy the oracle track students worked with. She prodded it and attempted different magic spells, but its mysteries remained elusive. She had so many questions, but the grimy head said nothing beyond its strange message. However, she strongly suspected that the last line was about her. She didn’t even know any other Amitys in Bonesborough. _What is this?_ _Who is this message for? Why did they throw it away? Was it Luz? Does this mean she likes me too?_ She hoped so, badly. She had literally run into the human only three blocks from there. She didn’t even want to consider that someone else might have left it behind, but she couldn’t be sure. Each time the gruesome severed head completed its message, she felt a thrill course through her body. 

Her singular fixation with the head was interrupted by a commotion from outside the house. Someone was shouting on the Blight’s perfectly maintained lawn. She looked towards her window and was surprised the sun had set already and the deep, soft blanket of night was spread across the sky. She had unknowingly spent nearly the whole day listening to the head tell her that she was precious to someone’s heart. 

She walked to the window, the place where she loved to sit and think or read, and looked out to see where the noise was coming from.  _ Luz! _

From her second story window, Amity took in the scene on the manor grounds. Down below, the human girl was standing, frantically waving the Grom-posal note in one hand and yelling, “I read it! I read it, Amity!” A pink and gold tiara on Luz’s head caught the light from her window and sparkled. 

Amity’s breath seized in her throat. She reached up and touched her own crown, still on her head. She hadn’t really expected to hear back from Luz until the next day.  _ It’s happening right now!  _ She also noticed that the yard’s perimeter wall had been surmounted by a column of ice. Apparently Luz hadn’t let a mere ten foot tall stone barrier stand in her way and had vaulted over it with a glyph. Amity opened the latticed window. She wanted to shout back down to Luz, asking her out right there, but as ever, propriety reigned. “Shhh! Be quiet! You’re going to wake everyone up!” she called down, gesturing with her hands to try to calm the frantic girl, but Luz continued yelling.

Amity rolled her eyes at her adorable foolishness and traced a circle of pink light in the air. She needed to resolve the situation quickly or else they wouldn’t have any privacy to talk. An abomination arm erupted from the ground under Luz’s feet. Luz crouched on the palm of its hand as it stretched and lifted her to Amity’s window. She didn’t wait for it to stop moving, instead springing from the magical construct as soon as the fenestration was within reach.

Luz flew through the open window and tackled Amity to the floor of her room with a thud, clinging to her as if she had just recovered a long-lost toy.  _ Oh Titan!  _ Amity blushed and hugged Luz back.

The human looked up into her golden eyes. “Amity! I read it. I read your note. Ohmygosh-it’s-so-great! I like you too! A lot! Like a-lot-a-lot!”

Amity was flooded with a multitude of emotions; joy, relief, excitement, and countless others.  _ That WAS her head! I knew it!  _ Amity confirmed to herself. She smiled. “I’m so glad to hear that, Luz. I was hoping you might after I found that fortune-teller in the garbage. But, shhhh. You’re going to wake everyone up.”

Confusion crossed Luz’s countenance. “Um, wait...found what?” she whispered.

Amity propped herself up on her elbow and pointed to the muttering head on the desk in the corner.

Luz looked over and her eyes lit up. “You found Larry!”

“Oh, is that what it's called?” Amity nodded at the ring of gold on the other girl’s head. “I see you got your tiara back.”

“I decided to keep it after all. King will understand.” She released Amity and laid on her side. Amity laid down too, so they could look each other in the eyes. Luz took one of Amity’s hands in hers and laced their fingers together. It felt very right. “I was so afraid to open the note. I was certain you must like someone else. I almost lit it on fire. And I...I understand everything now. It must have been so scary, not knowing if I liked you or not. I didn’t even know myself, until Larry told me. I was totally freaking out.” Luz smiled.

Amity felt her heart melting into Luz’s large brown eyes. “It’s okay though. Because we did go to Grom together. And we did the play together. It all worked out. And now, if you want,” Amity paused for just a moment, slightly hesitant despite her welling elation, “maybe we can go on dates and stuff?”

Luz pressed her forehead to Amity’s and grinned. “Yes! I do want that. Oh! I could kiss you!”

Amity inhaled sharply in excitement. It was turning out better than she’d imagined as she had taped the note back together in the library. She wasn’t even nervous anymore; she felt a new, audacious and clever sort of bravery. “You definitely could.” Her golden eyes sparked flirtatiously.

“Should I?”

“You definitely should.”

Luz closed her eyes and placed a hand behind Amity’s pointy ear. She leaned in and pressed her lips on Amity’s. Amity felt a surge of heat flush her face and neck. She kissed Luz back with everything she had pent up over the past weeks. It poured out of her like a deluge and made her head spin with euphoria.

Luz finally pulled away with a gasp. She evidently felt it too. “Wow! Kissing witches is magical!”

Amity responded with a gratified smile, but it faded as the full realization of her new situation put two sides of her mind in conflict. One part scandalously envisioned the possibilities of having Luz alone in her room, causing her cheeks to flush. The other part of her mind sternly and piously recited the litany of parental and social expectations the two young teens were violating just at that moment. The two sides battled it out until the latter showed its mettle and ultimately reined in the former.

“What’s wrong?” the human asked with a countenance of confusion.

“So, I guess you’re my girlfriend now.”

Luz nodded with a wide smile spreading across her face.

“And it’s night. And we’re in my bedroom. Alone. And the door is closed. And my parents aren’t home. And that is kind of against the rules,” she continued tenuously. “And I’m pretty sure you woke up Ed and Em and they’re eavesdropping on us.”

An audible scuffle ensued just outside her door. “We are not!” Edric's voice came through faintly.

Luz seemed crestfallen at her explanation. “Should I go?” she whispered.

Amity nodded reluctantly. “Yes. Unfortunately. But” —She kissed Luz fiercely again. Now that she finally could, she felt the urge to do so every few moments— “I will see you tomorrow. You can count on it.”

“I will!” Luz agreed, then pursed her lips. “So, do you want me to go back out the window or…?” She frowned as she stood up and gestured with her thumb.

The green-haired witch giggled. “No, silly. I’ll walk you out to the gate.” Amity stood as well and took Luz’s hand, entwining their fingers together again, and led her towards the door to the hallway. She was dancing on clouds as they left.  _ Wow! My girlfriend! _

Coming Soon:

Part 3 of the Unfolded series

The Phantom’s Apprentice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art by: @Artbynightlite1 (on Twitter and Instagram)


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